Why would anyone want to swim from Alcatraz Island to the mouth of San Francisco Bay?

By Joe McConnell

Why would anyone want to swim from Alcatraz Island to the mouth of San Francisco Bay?

Just ask Dr. David Kilroy, a Salem resident and Swampscott chiropractor by trade, who participated in the Alcatraz Challenge earlier this month. He blames it on his sheer passion for risky athletic pursuits from skydiving to white water rafting to biking down the side of a volcano in Maui.

“I guess I’m an adventure sports enthusiast and somebody who’s always up to trying something new,” Kilroy said. “I’m an extreme type of an athlete. I like to surf all year long, locally in New Hampshire and during the winter months in Panama, Hawaii and Nicaragua. Panama is my favorite because it reminds me of “Survivor,” living in huts and sleeping on hammocks with mosquito nets over them.

A 1987 Swampscott High graduate, Kilroy participated in the Alcatraz Challenge with Donald DeBaker, who also lived in Swampscott and now resides in Safety Harbor, Fla., just outside Tampa. They were two of 600 participants for the swim/run competition who listened to lectures about a large population of great white sharks and giant elephant seals that hover around the area, among other hazards to be wary of.

“It’s always in the back of your mind, but you knew they had rescue boats, kayakers, Coast Guard and the San Francisco Harbor Master Control out there for your safety,” said Kilroy about the dangers that the swimmers could face along the 1.6-mile course.

“The water is cold, but you wear heavy swim gear to combat the elements, and they also warned us about the currents that had the potential to reach 8 to 10 knots … sometimes you have to swim across the current to keep on swimming forward and if you don’t, you could get caught up in a current,” Kilroy said. “It was quite a sight to see 600 swimmers jump off the barge that brought us out to Alcatraz Island to start the race.”

Kilroy reached shore in 35 minutes, then waited for his Swampscott teammate who was about 15 minutes behind. DeBaker and Kilroy took on the run portion of the Challenge, with the pair negotiating the 8-mile run mostly going back and forth on the Golden Gate Bridge for five miles. Kilroy’s official time throughout the challenge was 2 hours, 30 minutes.

“I basically participate in these events for the experience,” Kilroy said. “I know I’m a faster swimmer than Debaker, but he’s a faster runner. When we completed the race, my business partner, Dr. Cynthia Armano, helped us to stretch out to recover from the event, and after seeing us compete, she was motivated to give it a try.”

Early development

Kilroy got his start in swimming on local YMCA teams, where he also was into water polo. As a youngster, he rounded out his interests practicing judo at the Shodokan Dojo facility in Salem. With his mother Arlene’s career in the travel industry, Kilroy’s future as an adventurous traveler began to take shape.

“My mom just rolls her eyes now when I tell her what I’m doing next. I don’t think anything surprises her anymore, while my dad [John] appreciates my sense of adventure,” Kilroy said.

After graduating from Swampscott High, Kilroy attended North Shore Community College and Salem State College. He moved on to Logan College in St. Louis, Mo., for a bachelor’s degree in biology, and eventually completed his studies to become a doctor at the Logan College of Chiropractic Medicine. He’s also certified as a chiropractic sports doctor and as a specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Kilroy recently obtained a license to practice his specialty in the U.S. Virgin Islands, another one of his destinations in the world of extreme sports.

He stayed local this past weekend to finish third – in 3 hours, 3 minutes - at the 2.4-mile ocean race in Winthrop.

When not flirting with physical dangers, Kilroy is in practice with Dr. Cynthia Armano in Kilroy & Armano Chiropractic and Massage Therapy on Columbia Street in Swampscott. His fiancée, Maureen Russell, is a massage therapist there. The two plan to marry next year on Dec. 10, in the Virgin Islands on Trunk Bay at St. John’s. Their soon-to-be 2-year-old son, Braiden Noah Russell Kilroy, enjoys watching his dad surf, snowboard and water ski.

It’s all about family for Kilroy, who would like to take his son on the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine for a four-month hike some day.

“It’s a huge world out there, and I’m game to whatever it has to offer me,” he said.

Kilroy has support

“I wanted to do something other than basketball, and a couple of years ago I started to team up with Dave [Kilroy] to participate in these extreme sports,” said DeBaker, a respiratory therapist at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. “It gives you self-discipline and healthy goals to reach, and you can carry that self-discipline into your job. It has made me feel good, and it also helped me develop a positive attitude about myself.”

DeBaker believes his positive approach has encouraged others to try the events. “It’s definitely a rush. Everybody needs that self-discipline, and once you go out and bike 30 to 40 miles on a given weekend, your endurance builds up to try the next step, and after each step you just want to raise your hands over your head. It gives you a feeling of great accomplishment,” he said.

Both Kilroy and DeBaker plan to be at the Sept. 9 half ironman in Narragansett, R.I., and they will travel to Panama City next year for the full ironman competition. They know - like everyone else who tries these unique sports requiring a tremendous amount of stamina - that extreme sports become habit-forming as the challenge to succeed permeates their lives.

Joe McConnell of The Swampscott Reporter can be reached at imcconne@cnc.com.

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